


Incomplete Pentagon Works

by ForMyBabies (BooksandKpop)



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Cliffhangers, Incomplete, M/M, Multi, No Ending, Reincarnation AU, Vampire AU, coffee shop AU, no edits, unbetad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23496217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksandKpop/pseuds/ForMyBabies
Summary: I'm no longer writing for Pentagon because it hurts my heart too much. But I had a few WIPS that I never got to finish for them that I don't want to leave to gather dust. So here they are.Unfinished.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Jo Jinho loves Two Baristas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jinho loves coffee and the baristas who make his order so perfectly.
> 
> 5.8k

Jinho wouldn’t say he was a coffee addict, although his best friend Hui insisted that was part of the problem. It’s just that he enjoyed the bittersweet taste of a hazelnut mocha and he needed that caffeine kick to get himself through his day - every day. The life of a postgrad was hard alright. There was no shame in admitting that without his coffee of choice he turned into a cranky, sarcastic asshole who physically couldn’t sit through any of his lectures or tutorial slots without either a) falling asleep or b) making one of his students cry.

Ok, so maybe he was a little bit addicted, and maybe it was a slight problem. 

But it wasn’t his fault that he discovered Five Senses Coffee at six am on a rainy Tuesday morning during the first week of his postgrad and had the best damn hazelnut mocha Jinho had ever tasted. It was also not his fault that two weeks later his roommate introduced him to Positive Café where he had an epiphany moment drinking his hazelnut mocha because it positively tasted like heaven and made him want to cry. Jinho soon discovered however during his descent into postgrad madness that each coffee shop only had one barista who was able to make his drink exactly the way he wanted it. 

Hui called him creepy for working out the working schedules of each of the baristas so he could plan his coffee breaks around them being on duty - as if he didn’t only go to the library to study when the cute Chinese exchange student was operating the front desk. Hypocrite or not, his best friend soon gave up trying to convince him that frequenting two different coffee shops at very specific times just to get a drink made a certain way was the underlying cause of his addiction. Perhaps Jinho continued to leave out the fact that he wasn’t just going for the coffee, that maybe he organised his classes and study schedule around those specific baristas because they were both really cute and it wasn’t just the caffeine he needed.

Not like he would ever admit that fact out loud to anyone, ever. At least, not while he was sober. Drunk Jinho however was a very different story. And unfortunately, his roommate had perfect recall even after four shots of vodka at 2 am on Friday night after exams were finished. 

Shinwon promised to keep his little crushes secret as long as Jinho didn’t mention the hickies on his neck or the underwear in their laundry that didn’t belong to either of them. It was a pretty sweet deal, and Jinho could live with not asking questions about the kind of people his roommate brought home. 

The cute barista with the dimples from Five Senses was called Hongseok, and maybe Jinho started falling for him the first time they had a conversation in English at seven pm while it snowed in the middle of November. He worked the opening shift (six am to eleven am) on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the closing shift (four pm to nine pm) on Fridays and Saturdays. The tall Japanese barista from Positive was called Yuto and Jinho realised he was falling for him too when he brought him a pastry free of charge in the middle of a lunch rush just before Christmas break. He worked eight am to three pm on Wednesdays and Fridays and two pm to six pm on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. It probably couldn’t have been better for Jinho; he was able to get an early morning coffee to wake him up every weekday before his classes started, and on the weekends he could go for a late lunch and relish the sweet caffeine rush he got for the rest of the day. 

Sure sometimes (read: more often than he would like) Jinho had to suffer through drinking coffee made by other baristas when he needed that kick to finish a particularly important assignment or sit for hours at his postgrad committee meetings to discuss his progress, but they never lifted him as much as the sweet drinks made for him by Hongseok or Yuto. He told all his friends it was just because the two baristas made his coffee just right, but Shinwon would smirk because he knew the high Jinho got was also attributed to the two men who would smile at him shyly whenever he entered their shops.

It wasn’t until mid-April and well after Jinho had come to terms with his crushes on both baristas that he discovered something about the two of them. Hongseok and Yuto knew one another, and were in fact self-proclaimed rivals. Hui couldn’t understand why Jinho looked so crestfallen and Shinwon literally collapsed to the floor laughing when he broke the news to them. According to Yanan (the cute librarian who had finally asked Hui on a date in stuttered Korean back at the start of March), the pair of them had lived across from one another in student dorms a year ago and their rivalry stemmed from some stupid bet relating to coffee and lifting weights. No one was sure who won, but it was a well known fact among a large proportion of the undergrad student population that they hated one another’s guts and refused to even acknowledge the others presence. But they seemingly turned anything and everything into a competition between them, and neither had ever backed down.

If Jinho had normal friends, maybe his coffee shop two-timing would have remained a secret for the remainder of his time in university. However, his friends were assholes and loved instigating drama for the sake of it. So on an overcast Wednesday morning, he strolled into Positive café expecting the usual small talk with Yuto about his classes while he waited for his coffee to be made just the way he liked it. What Jinho was completely unprepared for was the cold shoulder he received when he approached the counter.

“Morning Yuto-yah.”

“Good morning Sir, welcome to Positive Café. What can I get for you this morning?”

“Sir? What happened to calling me hyung, hmm?”

“May I take your order Sir?”

“Surely you should know my order by now Yuto-yah, after all, you’re the only barista who knows just how I like my coffee.”

“Are you sure about that Jinho-ssi? Are you sure that I’m the only barista in town who knows just how to make your hazelnut mocha the way you want it? Maybe there’s another barista, in another café who makes your perfect coffee on the mornings when I’m not working. Maybe the only reason you come here when I’m working is because I work opposite shifts to that other barista.”

Jinho froze on the spot. The accusatory tone in Yuto’s voice coupled with the kicked puppy look he was throwing him filled his heart with guilt. How had the younger male found out about his trips to Five Senses? Did he know that the other barista he was referring to was his self-proclaimed rival Hongseok? Surely he must do, there was no other explanation for his attitude. Obviously the Japanese boy took Jinho’s flustered silence as confirmation and just pouted harder as he turned towards the coffee machine. 

Three minutes later - not that Jinho was counting or anything - Yuto turned back to him with his coffee. He had slipped a cardboard holder around the takeaway cup and slid it across the counter with the lid. Without a word, he turned back to the coffee machine and just shook his head without looking back when Jinho asked how much he owed him. Still feeling rather guilty, Jinho left the price of his coffee in the tip jar and whispered a goodbye as he left. There was a heart drawn in the milk foam and it tasted just as good as usual, yet there was a bitter aftertaste in his mouth as he drank it.

Jinho really was screwed.

Thursday rolled around eventually after what seemed to Jinho like the longest Wednesday of the year. It was still overcast but didn’t seem like it was going to rain, so he left his apartment with just a jacket and made his way to Five Senses for his morning coffee. It was pretty early and the café was empty when Jinho walked in, save for the barista behind the counter. After yesterday’s incident with Yuto, he was a little worried how this interaction was going to go. Nevertheless, he walked up and cleared his throat to get the attention of the guy cleaning the coffee machine. His heart sank when he saw that it wasn’t Hongseok.

“Good morning! Welcome to Five Senses, may I take your order?”

“Oh yes good morning. Umm - is Hongseok not working today?”

“I’m afraid not, Hongseok-hyung called in sick today so I’m covering his shift. My name is Changgu. What can I get for you this morning?”

“Just a cappuccino to-go, please.”

“Coming right up! You can take a seat at the counter if you would like.”

He sank into one of the high stools at the counter and pouted. There was no reason to believe that Hongseok had called in sick for any reason other than he was actually ill, but Jinho still couldn’t shake the weird feeling in his chest. When Changgu came over with his coffee and a smile he did his best to return it. After paying, Jinho turned to leave but the barista called him back.

“Oh! Hold on a second. Are you the customer who always orders hyung’s hazelnut mocha?”

“Umm, yes that’s me. Why do you ask?”

“He asked me to give something to you if you came by!”

Changgu disappeared as he crouched down behind the counter, the rustling of paper was audible in the quietness of the shop. Suddenly he reappeared with a blinding grin and a piece of paper in hand.

“Here you go! I can’t believe I almost missed you, Hongseok-hyung would have killed me!”

“Thank you Changgu. And thank you for the coffee.”

“No problem! I hope you enjoy, come back soon loyal customer.”

Jinho nodded politely before leaving the shop, coffee and paper in hand. It wasn’t until he was sitting down in his first lecture of the day that he dared look and see what Hongseok had left for him. He was glad he did, because if he had read it while walking he may have dropped his coffee.

_ Jinho, I’m sorry I couldn’t make you your coffee this morning. Drop by Five Senses tomorrow evening and I’ll make one extra special for you - Hongseok _

So maybe the cappuccino wasn’t as sweet as the coffee he would order from Hongseok, but the promise of a special meeting was enough to push Jinho through the rest of his Thursday.

Friday morning rolled around and he was nervous, for two reasons. The first being that he was about to go visit Positive and get his usual coffee from Yuto, but he was entirely unprepared for how the interaction would go. On top of that, he was supposed to be going to Five Senses this evening to see Hongseok. Jinho had never been to both cafés in the same day before, he wasn’t sure his heart could handle it. 

Like the day before, Jinho left his apartment without a coat since rain wasn’t forecast until that night, but he really should have known better with his luck. So instead, he opened the door to Positive café and walked in completely drenched. His hair was falling in front of his eyes and his canvas shoes made a squelching noise with every step he took. There was no doubt about it, Jinho looked absolutely miserable.

Although, it might have been a blessing in disguise.

“Jinho-hyung! Oh my gosh, are you alright? You’re soaking!”

“I’m fine Yuto-yah, just forgot my co-o-ah-choo!”

Before he could even try to finish his sentence, there were footsteps running around the counter and large warm hands on his shoulders. Jinho peered up through his wet fringe and saw an extremely concerned Yuto standing way too close. He tried to take a step back but the Japanese boy had a strong grip. 

“Hyung, you’re going to catch a cold like this. I have a spare set of clothes in my bag, come on you need to change.”

Jinho tried to protest but a bout of shivers and another sneeze wracked his body and so the younger barista manhandled him behind the counter and through a door labelled “Employees Only”. From there, he was ushered into a small staff room and made sit down at one of the tables, and two minutes later a towel and set of dry clothes was placed in front of him.

“There’s a bathroom right there, please dry off as best you can and get changed? I’ll make you your coffee.”

With that, Yuto was gone again, leaving a blushing Jinho all by himself. The staff room was cosy and had the same gentle, upbeat music playing as in the main shop. He was almost ready to fall asleep until another sneeze almost launched him out of the chair he was in. Reluctantly, Jinho picked up the bundle in front of him and trudged towards the bathroom, shoes still squelching and leaving a trail of water in his wake.

Now, Jinho was aware that he wasn’t the tallest of people, and that Yuto was considerably larger than he was, but their size difference became ridiculously apparent when he changed into the spare clothes he was given. Luckily they seemed to have the same waist size so the tracksuit bottoms did fit him there, but Jinho had to roll the ends of them up five times just so he wouldn’t step on them. The same went for the t-shirt which looked rather like a mini-dress, and once he put the hoodie over it Jinho was positively swamped in fabric. He would have complained about looking ridiculous if it wasn’t for the fact his own clothes were drenched and Yuto’s were warm. After finishing towel-drying his hair and making himself look a little less child-like in the oversized articles, he cautiously made his way out of the bathroom.

There was someone else in the staff room, but it wasn’t Yuto. They looked equally as surprised to see Jinho walking into the room, and raised an eyebrow at his clothes.

“Umm, hi? Is that Yuto’s hoodie?”

“Yes, it is. I got caught in the rain so he gave it to me to change into.”

“Oohhh!!! You’re the hazelnut mocha guy, right?!

“How did you know that? Actually, who are you?”

“Yuto doesn’t lend his clothes to just anyone. I’m Wooseok. You’ve probably never seen me before because I usually work opposite shifts to Yuto, but I am covering for someone this morning.”

“I see. Well, it was nice to meet you Wooseok-ssi, but I really better get going.”

Jinho bowed politely to the even taller barista (seriously did they only hire giants to work here?) before making his way back towards the main shop. He crossed paths with Yuto just as he was about to open the staff door. A strange look that Jinho couldn’t quite place crossed the Japanese boy’s face when he saw him. The young barista seemed to catch himself staring and quickly looked away.

“Sorry, I suppose I didn’t really consider how my clothes would fit you hyung.”

“It’s alright Yuto, I appreciate it. Is this my coffee?”

“Yes! One hazelnut mocha made by me for you. On the house.”

“Thank you.”

They both moved back into the shop after he accepted his takeaway cup from the other. It was empty and so Yuto encouraged Jinho to take a seat under the heater and stay for a little while. He knew that he should really start making his way to the library to study, but the warmth coming from above him and the male sitting right next to him was far more enticing than the cold, rainy day outside. As Jinho sat and drank his coffee, they started talking. It was the first time they had gotten to have a proper conversation aside from what small chit-chat they would exchange as he waited for his coffee. Not surprisingly, Yuto was a very interesting conversation partner and also a wonderful listener. Jinho was upset to reach the end of his coffee; and today it was for more than just one reason. 

The rain had let up finally and so the shorter male had no more reasons to stay. It was starting to get busy and soon enough Wooseok would need help behind the counter. So reluctantly, Jinho gathered his things and stood up.

“Thank you again Yuto-yah, I owe you one.”

“Not at all hyung, I’m glad I could help. It wouldn’t do to have you getting sick.”

“Do you have a plastic bag I can bring my wet clothes home in? I’ll wash yours and bring them in the next day.”

“I have a better idea. Why don’t we exchange numbers? I can dry your things here and we can meet up tomorrow to swap.”

There was a soft, hopeful look on Yuto’s face that made Jinho feel even warmer inside. He nodded shyly and they handed over their phones. When he finally made his way over to the door, phone securely in hand, he felt his heart begin fluttering as the taller held it open for him. 

“Talk to you later hyung. Try not to get caught in the rain again.”

And with a grin and a wave Yuto bid him goodbye and returned to his position at the coffee machine. Jinho blamed the flush that rose on his cheeks on the heater he had sat under inside. 

The rest of his morning and afternoon passed in a bit of a blur. No one said anything to his face about the ridiculously large clothes he was wearing, but Jinho overheard several of his students whispering about him during their tutorial. He knew he could have easily gone home and changed into his own actual clothes, but there was something comforting about being wrapped in a cocoon of fabric that had a lingering smell of coffee. 

When his day of academics finally came to an end, Jinho headed home looking forward to taking a hot shower. It was only as he entered his apartment that he was confronted for the first time about his attire.

“When Hui-hyung told me he saw you dressed in clothes that were four sizes too big I told him he was probably just sleep-deprived. I see now that I owe him an apology.”

“I didn’t see Hui today though?”

“That is not the point here. The point is that you look like a child dressed in his big brothers clothes. Care to explain?”

“I forgot my coat this morning and got soaked in the rain. Yuto loaned me a spare change of clothes so that I wouldn’t catch a cold.”

Even as he said it, Jinho felt his heart fluttering again at the consideration the younger had shown him. Shinwon raised an eyebrow at whatever expression was on his face and just laughed. 

“Hyung, you’re so whipped for that boy.”

Jinho couldn’t even try and deny it.

After his shower Jinho didn’t even second guess his decision to put Yuto’s jumper back on. Shinwon laughed in disbelief but didn’t comment any further. The pair made dinner while chatting about all their course work. His roommate was still an undergraduate but he was doing a double major and so had a lot of different projects and assignments piling on top of him. It was only when Jinho was organising his bag for the following day that he found a little slip of paper which made his heart drop.

He had completely forgotten about Hongseok’s offer for him to drop by Five Senses this evening on his shift. The mornings events and his time with Yuto had wiped that memory clean from his mind. Checking his phone, Jinho panicked when he saw how late it had gotten. Scrambling around the room, he grabbed his wallet from the dresser and shoved his feet into the first pair of shoes he could find. Not wanting to risk a similar fiasco in the rain, Jinho also grabbed an umbrella on his way out the door, yelling to his roommate he would be back in a while. Shinwon tried to call something after him but Jinho had no time and just ran off.

He arrived at Five Senses at half past eight, thirty minutes before they were due to close for the evening. Jinho was slightly out of breath having run the majority of the distance and so he stopped to compose himself before walking in. Having never been to the café at night before, it was a whole new experience. Usually, the dark wooden panelling gave the shop interior a warm vibe to match the rich flavour of coffee in the morning time, however, with the golden lights reflecting off the polished surfaces it brought a completely different atmosphere. Jinho found himself marvelling at how something as simple as the time of day could have an effect on the vibe of the store. Just then, a voice broke through his thoughts.

“Good evening Sir, may I take your order?”

It wasn’t Hongseok, but nor was it the barista from yesterday morning - Changgu, he reminded himself. Instead it was a boy with a head of dirty blonde hair and painted freckles on his cheeks. His name tag read “Hyojong”, and he didn’t seem like he wanted to be here.

“Oh hi. Umm, is Hongseok here by any chance?”

The boy squinted at him through his fringe and Jinho wondered if maybe he needed glasses. He was just starting to feel self conscious about himself when a grin broke across the baristas face and he turned to yell towards the staff room.

“Hongseok! The small customer you won’t shut up about is here!”

Jinho felt himself blush at the comment, and was about to protest when a loud clatter sounded from the back of the shop. It was a good thing that there was no one else here at this hour, or Jinho would have felt even more embarrassed. Hongseok appeared through the staff door, hair ruffled and name tag slightly askew. He looked adorable as he scanned the room before his eyes landed on Jinho. A smile transformed his face into something bright that made Jinho’s heart skip a beat. 

“Hey, Jinho. I was thinking you weren’t going to show.”

“Sorry, I was doing work at home and completely lost track of time.”

He felt bad about the lie, but it wasn’t like he was going to get caught out for it. Hongseok immediately moved towards the coffee machine, pushing the blonde barista out of the way and began making a coffee. Jinho wasn’t sure what to do as he rarely got the chance to sit in Five Senses since it was always packed during the times he was there. So instead, he stood in the middle of the floor and waited for Hongseok to say something else. 

The barista in question came out from behind the counter with his coffee cup in one hand and a plate with a pastry on it in his other. Jinho moved towards the table that the younger had placed the crockery down on and took a seat facing the entrance. Hongseok sat on the opposite side and beamed at him. Cautiously, Jinho took a sip of the hot drink and marvelled at how the taste was just right, as usual. 

“Thank you Hongseok, it’s delicious.”

“Well, I pride myself on making the best hazelnut mocha in town.”

He winked and Jinho tried not to choke on his drink. Now was not the time to think about the cute Japanese boy who had made him his coffee this morning and loaned him dry clothes. 

It was at the very moment Jinho’s thoughts caught up with the situation that the man across from him gave a glance at what he was wearing. The smile which had been gracing the youngers face dropped off in favour of a confused frown. Jinho had never wanted the ground to swallow him whole more than he did right at this very moment. There was no reason to panic though, it wasn’t like Hongseok would know that this was Yuto’s hoodie - right?

“Jinho-hyung, what are you wearing?”

There was a look of hurt and betrayal on Hongseok’s face, and Jinho had no idea what to do to get out of it. The chance of getting away with a lie were slim, considering how it was now apparent that the barista across from him recognised the hoodie he was swamped in.

“Oh, this? I got caught in the rain this morning and a friend of mine loaned me their jumper so I wouldn’t catch a cold. I didn’t have time to change because I ran all the way here before the shop closed.”

It was the truth, mostly. He left out the Japanese boys name just on the off-chance that maybe Hongseok didn’t actually know who it belonged to and was just curious why he was wearing such an oversized sweatshirt. That had to be it. Unfortunately, the look in Hongseok’s eyes said otherwise, but he didn’t say any more on the matter.

They passed the rest of their time with awkward small talk. Jinho regretted that he didn’t get to speak comfortably with Hongseok again, as their previous encounters had always been so enjoyable. Soon enough, he reached the end of his coffee and between them they had finished the pastry. It was closing time, so Jinho didn’t want to overstay his welcome. Especially not now with the weird atmosphere between the two of them. As he was about to walk out the door after saying his goodbyes, Hongseok stopped him with an unreadable look in his eyes.

“Um, I wanted to say sorry again for not being here yesterday morning. Changgu told me that he almost forgot to give you my note and I would have been upset if I didn’t get to make it up to you.”

“Oh no it’s alright. You can’t help it when you get sick. Please don’t worry about me and my coffee, your health is more important.”

“I know, I know. But if it ever happened again I’d like to be able to tell you myself, you know? So, do you think it would be alright if we exchanged numbers?”

Jinho was shocked but pleasantly so by the development. He had been so sure that Hongseok was offended by his friendship with Yuto and wouldn’t want to speak to him again. However, it seemed like the opposite was the case. Instead it seemed that Hongseok wanted to get closer to Jinho, and he certainly wasn’t going to refuse him that. So they swapped numbers and finally Jinho left the shop with a shy wave. 

When he got back to his apartment, he lay face down on the couch and screamed. Shinwon, who was in the kitchen making a sandwich, just laughed at him before question his misery. He explained the whole situation to his smug roommate who looked like he knew something Jinho didn’t. After he had finished detailing the entire fiasco, Shinwon just took a sip from his mug of what was probably tea and raised an eyebrow in his direction.

“I tried to warn you that you were still wearing Yuto’s hoodie, but you ran out of here in such a rush it was like you had hellhounds on your tail.”

“You could have texted and warned me.”

“But where’s the fun in that?

The taller male dodged the cushion Jinho threw in his direction and laughed again before saying his goodnights. He refused to stay despite Jinho’s begging for his help with the drama. That night Jinho had some very complicated dreams involving the two baristas his heart was yearning for.

In the weeks following the rain fiasco, Jinho began to notice some interesting things about his encounters with both Yuto and Hongseok. They would each greet him with big, warm smiles and the sweetest hellos when he entered the shop. The hearts drawn in his milk foam got progressively bigger and after a while his coffee started being accompanied by a sweet treat “on the house”. If it had been just one of the baristas Jinho could have handled it, however, both Hongseok and Yuto seemed to be making everything they did for him a little more sweet. 

Then the texts started. Their conversations went from simple good mornings and thank you’s to the two younger boys sending him encouraging messages throughout the day and wishing him goodnight every night. It was cute definitely, but his heart was beginning to fail.

And to top it all off, they were constantly complimenting him on his hair or clothes or anything under the sun - not to mention the constant requests for lunch dates outside of their usual meeting hours. Jinho used his studies as an excuse, but in reality he was scared. Scared of upsetting one by going to lunch with the other and having to lie about it. He really wished there was a way to overcome this. 

It wasn’t until the gifts started that Jinho finally called it a problem.

Yuto had ambushed him one Thursday as he was making his way from a meeting to a tutorial. The Japanese boy was dressed up nicely in faded jeans and a flannel shirt over what seemed to be a tank top. Not that Jinho was trying to get a peek at his biceps or anything.

“Yuto? What are you doing here?”

“It was quiet at work and Hyunggu said he could handle it, so I clocked off early.”

“Oh, ok. But what are you doing here though? On this side of campus?”

“Umm, well I asked a friend who knew you where you would be right now because I wanted to see you.”

“That’s really sweet Yuto, but I’m afraid I don’t have time to chat. I’m running to a tutorial right now.”

“No no that’s alright hyung, like I said I just wanted to see you. And give you something.”

The tall boy made a single red carnation appear seemingly out of nowhere and offered it to Jinho shyly. It was beautiful, in full bloom, and Jinho really wished he knew what it meant. 

“Thank you Yuto, it’s beautiful. But what’s the occasion?”

“I just wanted you to have a flower as lovely as you are.”

He said it so quietly that Jinho almost didn’t hear him. But the flush on his cheeks made it clear that he meant what he said. Jinho willed himself not to blush in return, and instead gently thanked him again before he really had to go. Yuto gave him a shy smile and wave as the elder walked away, and Jinho felt his heart turning loops in his chest.

The flower looked beautiful displayed in his bedroom window against the backdrop of the city.

Not even a full twenty four hours later and Jinho found Hongseok sitting on the steps of the building he was in after one of his lectures. The younger boy seemed to be lost in thought, and if it wasn’t for the way he scanned every students face who passed by Jinho may have believed he was there by coincidence. When the barista caught sight of Jinho standing there, his eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet to greet him.

“Hi hyung! How was your lecture?”

“It was good, thanks. What are you doing here Hongseok?”

“I had a few minutes before my shift starts in the shop so I came to see you.”

“Oh, that’s really sweet of you. I don’t want you to be late though, you should probably get going.”

“You’re right, thanks for looking out for me Jinho hyung. Before I leave though, I brought you something.”

“What do you - oh Hongseok, I can’t take this.”

“Sure you can! I made it just for you. It’ll taste perfect with a cup of tea later this evening.”

The younger man held out a box containing a beautifully decorated cupcake. It was from the craft bakery in the city he remembered mentioning to Hongseok once a few months ago. He was extremely surprised and also flattered that he had remembered and went out of his way to get it for him. Jinho reached out and accepted the gift with a shy smile. And just like that, Hongseok was beaming at him before running off to work. 

The cupcake graced his taste buds with a pure sweetness that made him feel giddy for the rest of the night.

If it had stopped there, maybe Jinho would have been able to come to a conclusion of what to do by his own merit. But unfortunately, that was not the case. Now, on top of the coffee and pastries and compliments and sweet messages, the gifts had become a regular thing too. 

They started small; single flowers and cupcakes. Then it moved to bigger bouquets and whole cakes he could never finish by himself. After a particularly large arrangement of flowers, all various shades of pink, Jinho found himself distraught thinking of how much more overbearing they were going to get. But then the gifts evolved further, and he was at a complete loss what to do.

Yuto gave him a beautiful silk scarf one day along with his coffee. It was a deep royal blue with gold edging and floral design winding through it. He was speechless when he opened the white gift box to see it lying on the paper inside.

“You always look so good in this colour hyung, I saw it and thought of you.”

Jinho thanked the Japanese boy and wound the scarf around his neck, marvelling at the quality of the material. Embarrassingly, he found himself burying his nose in it throughout the day to catch the lingering smell of Yuto on the fabric.

Hongseok caught him on his way to a meeting another afternoon and presented him with a gorgeous journal. It was leather bound and had a silver embossed print on the spine. 

“You mentioned you were looking for a new one, and when I saw it I thought of you.”

He barely found the words to express his gratitude, flicking through the pages and admiring the feel of the paper. As he wrote his name on the inside cover later that night, he had to stop himself from daydreaming about doodling the younger males name beside it.

Shinwon soon caught on to his dilemma. Or at least, he started to make it known that he was aware of Jinho’s problem. 


	2. The Coven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vampire Coven Pentagon meet a Great Evil - one Jung Wooseok. But he was never the real evil.
> 
> 6.6k words

Hwitaek opened the door of the attic room and immediately began coughing violently at the smell. There were noxious fumes boiling off a cauldron sitting in the centre that would have killed him if he could actually die again. As it was, he was just annoyed at the godawful stench.

“Yah, Changgu! What on earth are you brewing up here?”

“Hyunggu said he misses being able to eat garlic bread with his pizza, so I’m trying to see if I can come up with a garlic antidote.”

“Seriously? Hongseok has been struggling to do a reading all day because he said there was something blocking his visions and you’re telling me it’s because Hyunggu misses Italian food?!”

“I only have another hour before I can stopper it and test it out.”

“Well I’m not being your guinea pig again, you may ask Hyojong this time.”

Changgu watched as Hwitaek flapped his arms around his face trying to disperse the gas before giving up and slamming the door behind him. Once they were sure he was gone, Hyunggu let his invisibility fall away from him and the pair burst into laughter. 

“Did you see his face?”

“I know, he looked like he was about to lose it.”

Stomping down the three flights of stairs towards the conservatory, Hwitaek tried valiantly to rid the smell of Changgu’s potion from his nostrils, however he was unsuccessful and so had to visit Hongseok with the lingering stench making him want to sneeze.

“Oh, you’re back. What the hell is that smell?”

“Changgu is attempting to brew a garlic antidote because Hyunggu misses it.”

“And how much longer will it take?”

“He said he has another hour before it’s done.”

Hongseok sighed and ran a hand over his face. His energies had been acting up all day and he desperately needed to do a reading of the town to satisfy the itch under his skin. But he had to wait another hour before Changgu’s latest potion experiment was finished and he could try properly. He had assumed it was something to do with either garlic or silver because that was the only thing that could run such strong interference with his own powers. 

Deciding there was no point just sitting around and waiting for the hour, he decided to go find something to do to distract himself from the errant buzz that was running amok within him. Luckily, he found someone to provide the perfect outlet.

“Yah Hongseok! Do you have a few minutes to give me a hand with something?”

Shinwon watched as their resident psychic looked up with disbelief as he floated precariously over the banister of the second floor. He could see the elder debating whether or not he wanted to deal with him right now before sighing and turning to walk up the stairs. Shinwon let out a cry of delight before maneuvering himself back onto the landing without hitting anything. 

“I see you’ve managed to manipulate yourself now.”

“It’s still a work in progress. I’ve gotten pretty good at hovering and moving myself short distances when I’m inside, but as soon as there is any sort of disturbance like wind or magic my hold falters a bit.”

“So what is it you need help with?”

“I need to practice taking control of someone when they fight back.”

“You want to try take control of me and I have to resist you?”

“Pretty much.”

He watched as Hongseok contemplated the idea before he finally agreed. Happy that he had someone to practice with, Shinwon grabbed the other by the hand and began skipping towards his practice room. They passed Jinho on the way, who had his arms full of thick leather-backed tomes. 

“Doing a bit of light reading are we?”

“An acquaintance got in touch and needs some help with a particularly nasty case of moon fever. I promised him I would look through some of my old texts and see if there was anything stronger he might be able to use.”

The two younger members nodded before Shinwon pulled on Hongseok’s arm and began walking again. Jinho rolled his eyes and continued on his own journey to his study. He had spent the last two and a half hours in the library searching for these particular volumes of his study history and was confident there would be something of use in them. Unfortunately, there was another member sitting outside his door looking rather miserable by the time he got there.

“What happened this time Hyojong?”

The blonde furrowed his eyebrows before starting to finger spell something. Jinho interrupted him and asked they take it inside his study before his arms broke under the weight of the books he was carrying. After he had set them down and taken a seat at his desk, he pushed a sheet of paper and a quill towards Hyojong and let the younger write out his message.

_ Seungyeon sent me a letter that she needed help decoding and right as I was about to break it the seal activated and fired a curse at me. I was too slow to stop it so now I’m mute and bound so I can’t undo it myself. Help please. _

Hyojong passed the paper back to their eldest member and waited as he scanned the words. The healer smiled at him sympathetically when he realised his predicament. He stood up and walked over to the wall of mahogany cabinets and opened the second to last drawer. When he returned to where the younger was sitting, he had an oval stone and a golden loop in hand.

“Grip the stone tightly in your left hand and clearly project what you want to say into it. Hold the loop on your right palm face up and it should translate your thoughts to sound waves. Try it with a sentence first before you go curse breaking.”

He did as he was told and practiced projecting a simple statement through the apparatus.

“Seungyeon is going to owe me big time for this.”

Jinho grinned broadly as the words came out clear as day. The sound was a little lower in pitch than Hyojong’s usual voice but that would have no bearing on the ability to break the curse. Spelling out a thank you, the younger sprinted out of Jinho’s study to head to the basement where he could remove the bindings on himself. The eldest shook his head fondly before settling himself down to consult the texts he had fetched.

As he ran through the halls of the house, Hyojong briefly wondered why it was so quiet. It was almost eight pm which meant that he should have been hearing Hwitaek clattering around in the communal space and setting up the room for their end of day meeting. Instead it was silent and if he wasn’t so impatient to release the curse he had set on himself he probably would have stopped to check in. Instead, he decided he would try to get Yanan’s attention and screamed loudly in his head. It wasn’t long before he got a reply.

_ “Hyojong, you made me fall off my table.” _

_ “Sorry Yanan. I’m under a mute curse so you’re the only one whose attention I can get right now.” _

_ “Ok, so what do you need?” _

_ “It’s really quiet downstairs.” _

_ “That’s nice.” _

_ “No! I mean I can’t hear  _ Hwitaek _ setting up for family time. Can you check if he’s ok? I’m kind of in a hurry.” _

_ “Oh, alright. I’ll see what’s going on.” _

_ “Thank you. I’m going into the basement now.” _

_ “Alright, good luck.” _

Yanan groaned out loud and shook his head to dislodge the echo of Hyojongs screaming. His powers had been extra sensitive today for some reason and he would have picked up on Hyojong’s mental communications even if he had just spoken normally. The Chinese member stood up from where he had ended up on the ground in shock and rubbed his back before sitting down on his bed. He then reached out to try contact Hwitaek telepathically and see why he wasn’t in the communal space. He tried twice but there was just radio silence, and so he instead raised his energy to his crown to scan the building. Oddly, Yanan wasn’t able to sense their leader anywhere in the house, and he wasn’t due to leave tonight.

Concentrating harder, he tried once again, scanning the entire house from top to bottom. Changgu and Hyunggu were in the attic, some pot of chaotic magic brewing between them. Jinho was in his study on the third floor surrounded by an aura of calm. Hongseok and Shinwon were on the second floor, their contrasting energies fighting against one another. He was all alone on the first floor in his bedroom. Yuto was in the back garden with an aura of frustration hanging over him, and Hyojong was in the basement wading in swirling dark forces. However, Hwitaek was still nowhere to be found. 

Resigning himself to dealing with this strange situation, he called out for Yuto to come inside as a backup. You never could be too careful when you were dealing with unknown things in a coven of vampires.

_ “Yuto, stop being mad that you can’t change form and come inside.” _

_ “I was almost there! You interrupted me.” _

_ “You’ve been standing in the same spot for half an hour with a cloud of upset around you, don’t try and lie to me.” _

_ “Fine. Why do you need me inside?” _

_ “Hwitaek is missing. I can’t reach him or sense him anywhere in the house. Meet me outside the common space.” _

_ “I’ll be there in a second.” _

One of the benefits of having stereotypical vampirism was the super speed. When Yuto said he would be there in a second, he meant it literally. Yanan appeared a moment later and they both looked at the sealed common space door with apprehension. Yuto may have been a relatively new vampire by the others standards, he was still 103 years old mind you, but he was well aware that anything sealed with magic didn’t always bode well.

“Should we get Hyojong up here? He would be better equipped to deal with this.”

“He’s currently battling a three-thousand year old encrypted curse in the basement.”

“Right, ok. Hongseok then?”

Yanan nodded and reached out for the psychic to request his help. He made his way down quickly with Shinwon in tow. Both of them had messy hair and Shinwon was missing a sock, but they had determined looks on their faces. When the telepath filled them in on the situation, Hongseok looked even more worried.

“There has been a serious amount of erratic energy in the house today, but I couldn’t read anything because of the noxious concoction Changgu is brewing in the attic.”

“Yeah I felt it too. I know my abilities are still growing in, but my senses have been acting up all day. I couldn’t even change form.”

“That’s weird actually, I noticed my powers were on high sensitivity today as well. And seeing as Hyojong actually got hit with a curse there must be something going on.”

Hongseok frowned and worried his lip between his bottom teeth. The itch and buzz under his skin had returned and was now amplified as the four of them looked at the sealed door. Hwitaek was their leader and the most powerful member of the coven. If something had happened to him it would take the combined power of the other eight members to fight it. But also, with Hwitaek in undetermined circumstances, technically the role of leader fell to their eldest, Jinho.

_ “Jinho, I know you’re really busy but we have a problem.” _

_ “What’s wrong Yanan?” _

_ “The common room door is sealed and I can’t sense Hwitaek anywhere. Hongseok said his energies are erratic and everyone’s powers have been acting up.” _

_ “I’ll be right down. See if you can get Hyunggu out of the attic will you? I don’t think it’s wise for Changgu to leave his potion unattended.” _

A few minutes later, the majority of their coven had assembled. Changgu had agreed that it wasn’t safe to leave his mixture brewing alone, especially not when garlic was involved. Hyojong had managed to break the curse he was under but it had taken a heavy toll on him, and so Jinho ordered him to drink an energy tonic and rest. The blonde didn’t want to, but seeing as he made a mistake in his curse-breaking even when he wasn’t drained he would be more of a hindrance than a help. But he left his mind wide open for Yanan to ask him any questions they needed. And so, the six coven members joined hands and began the process necessary to bypass the seal on the door and rescue their leader.

They had all been expecting something horrible. Hundreds or thousands of years of ‘living’ made you always be prepared for the worst. One possibility they hadn’t considered was that Hwitaek was simply communicating with a demon, and the mirror energies they possessed were hiding their leader from Yanan’s senses.

“Oh, what are you all doing here? It’s not time for the coven meeting yet.”

“Yanan got worried when he couldn’t sense you and then Yuto got even more worried when he found the door sealed.”

“That is my fault, I do apologise. I should have made my presence known to your psychic and your telepath.”

“It’s alright Young K, maybe just keep it in mind if you visit in future.”

With that, Hwitaek bade the demon farewell and they faded from the room. Their leader turned to face them and looked serious for all of two seconds before his face broke into a large grin. He ran towards them, trying to pull everyone into his embrace despite only being taller than Jinho. Everyone sighed and grumbled about the disruption to their individual activities but inside they were all relieved that nothing bad had happened to Hwitaek. No one wanted to think about what they would do without him. 

They all were roped into helping Hwitaek set up the common space for their meeting. All except for Jinho, who firmly insisted he return to his books. Between the other six, they had the room arranged in no time, and all that was left to do was wait for the right time to begin.

Finally, at nine thirty three pm, the moon was risen fully and the coven of nine assembled for their daily meeting. The elder members liked to refer to it as family time, however their two youngest, Yuto and Hyunggu, were still a little sensitive to the matters of family and so prefer to just call them coven meetings. The time was spent as it usually was; recapping of everyone’s daily events and making sure there were no grievances or misunderstandings getting in the way of relationships. When you were going to live with the same group of people for the rest of eternity, it was important not to have minor inconveniences causing strife between members.

“Ok, so who would like to speak first?”

“I would, if you don’t mind Hwitaek.”

“Alright Hongseok, go ahead.”

“Thanks. Changgu, next time you plan to make anything related to garlic or silver can you please inform the other members first? I was frustrated that I couldn’t do a reading and didn’t know what was blocking my powers.”

“Of course Hongseok. It was a spur of the moment thing and I didn’t think to warn everyone else. I’m really sorry.”

“Alright, who’s next then?”

“I have one too. Hyojong, I know you didn’t mean harm but could you please not screech so loud in your head to get my attention? I’m always listening and would rather not go deaf.”

“Sorry Yanan, I’ll keep that in mind. Are you alright though? You said you fell off your table.”

“I’m alright, thank you.”

“Great, I think we can all take something from that too. Anyone else?”

“Well I have one on behalf of the whole coven I think. I know it wasn’t entirely your fault Hwitaek, but if you are going to summon a demon outside of your studio room please do let at least one other member know.”

“I understand Jinho, and in future I will make sure not to cause such panic. Honestly, I was surprised myself when I felt Young K tugging the link and never stopped to consider what would happen if I didn’t warn you guys. I’m sorry.”

With that, everyone seemed to be free of all their grievances for the day. Shinwon found it slightly uncomfortable that there were three all at once, sometimes they could go days without one at all. He supposed it was probably down to the weird extra energy that seemed to be buzzing around all of them today which was making them more sensitive. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though, but there was a strange feeling burning in the back of his mind now that he thought about it. He decided to bring it up with Hongseok when the meeting was concluded.

“Are you going to go do a reading now?”

“Yeah I am. Changgu said everything in the attic has been sealed so there shouldn’t be anything in the way now. I’m anxious to see what is happening to make everyone’s powers so on edge.”

The other looked satisfied and so Hongseok watched as he made his way over to annoy Hyunggu for a while. He informed Hwitaek that he was going to do a reading and slipped out of the common space quietly. The others apart from Jinho were all beginning to settle down for the night and he didn’t plan on disturbing them. 

That was one strange thing about living in a town which had a majority mortal population - the supernatural inhabitants tended to adopt some of the human tendencies. Like resting at night time. It was strange, especially since their vampiric powers tended to be stronger when the moon was out. This was something he often contemplated as he prepared for readings, but tonight he was too antsy to focus for long. He set up all his materials and as quick as was possible he began to reach out his energy and began to form an image of the town.

While Jinho would have loved to stay and get comfortable with his other coven members, unfortunately he still hadn’t found anything helpful for his acquaintance. Chanyeol had seemed very nervous in his message and it was obviously very serious if he was coming to Jinho for counsel. So instead of relaxing under the moon, the eldest coven member returned to his books and continued his search for the information he was sure was hidden somewhere in their pages.

Changgu knocked on the study door about two hours later and was welcomed in with a soft voice. He found Jinho slumped in his desk chair with sheets of paper strewn haphazardly around him. Their eldest tended to overwork himself at times, and was the kind of person who didn’t stop until he had achieved what he needed to do. That was part of what made him such a fantastic healer, but it also took a toll on him.

“I made a fresh batch of tonics yesterday, and I tried some new combinations. Hwitaek said he thinks you may need one.”

“Thank you Changgu, our leader always seems to know these things.”

“Well, that and Yanan said there was a big stinky cloud of exhausted frustration hanging over you.”

“In all the three hundred years I have known Yanan, he has never likened auras to stinky clouds.”

“No, that was Hyunggu’s interpretation.”

The smaller vampire laughed at that, easily picturing their youngest coven member taking something as intricate and powerful as empath readings and referring to them in such a childlike manner. Still, he motioned for Changgu to take a seat opposite him and the pair discussed each of the tonics and what the intended purpose was. In the end, Jinho went with a ginseng concoction that he hoped would help lift his tiredness and help him find what he was looking for. After saying thanks to the resident potion master, Jinho waved him goodbye and stuck his head straight back into the current chapter he was reviewing.

On his way back downstairs, Changgu took a quick detour to Hyojong’s bedroom to drop off a valerian root tea that would help the older rest well and recover his energy. The blonde still looked drained from the curse-breaking he had done earlier, even after the energy tonic and power nap he took and Changgu just wanted to help. He dropped the rest of the tonics he had brewed in his own room, writing a note to remind himself to store them properly later, before heading down to the common space to chill out with his other members. Just as he was about to open the door though, it flew inwards and Yanan and Hwitaek rushed past him. 

“What’s going on?”

“Hongseok called for Yanan a minute ago, apparently he saw something really weird and needs another opinion. Hwitaek is going as back up.”

Hyunggu was pouting with a fluffy blanket wrapped around his shoulders. They had all just gotten comfortable when Yanan suddenly leaped up from his position on the couch and dragged their leader up with him. Hyojong in particular was annoyed at the disruption, having just begun to fall asleep in the Chinese members lap. Changgu looked worried but still made his way into the common space and began to settle himself down in a spot next to Yuto. Looking over, he saw Hyojong had relocated to Shinwon’s embrace and so the youngest vampire squeezed himself in between Changgu and Yuto and sent positive vibes to the missing members. 

As Hyunggu snuggled up beside him, Yuto pulled the blankets closer so the three of them were wrapped up like a big vampire burrito. He was worried about what Hongseok had sensed, but he trusted in the older members to be able to handle it. Hopefully, whatever it was would explain his powers acting up all day. All of theirs actually, seeing how three of the other coven members had also been experiencing weird things. There wasn’t much he could do to help though, so instead he just closed his eyes and focused on lowering his heart rate to a comfortable resting rate. He was just about to dip into sleep when a voice pierced through his mind.

_ “Everyone needs to come to the conservatory right now.” _

After receiving an affirmative from the remaining six members, Yanan returned his attention to the two in front of him. Hwitaek was stressed and Hongseok was on edge, their energies bleeding tension into the room. Yuto arrived first, with a sleepy Hyojong in his arms and Hyunggu clinging to his back. Shinwon and Changgu made their way in moments later, with Jinho taking a few minutes to come from upstairs. Once all nine of them were assembled, Hwitaek placed a hand on Hongseok’s shoulder and brought him back to the room.

“You guys aren’t going to like this.”

Hongseok felt more tense than he had ever been before. It was even worse than Hyunggu’s turning, and that had been a whole other level of disaster. The eight remaining coven members were watching him with wary eyes and waiting for him to speak.

“There’s someone new in town, and they have the darkest aura I have ever encountered in my time.”

Jinho was taken aback by the finality in Hongseok’s statement. The psychic had read plenty of bad people before, many bordering on actual evil, but for him to claim it was the darkest aura - it was nothing short of terrifying. 

“Could you read anything else from them?”

“Barely. Whoever it is, they’re really young. Maybe around two decades? But I can’t pick up on anything else through the cloud of darkness that is clinging to them. I couldn’t even see what they looked like.”

Still tired from everything that had happened today, Hyojong was slightly groggy in Yuto’s arms. But he was alert enough to know that any sort of darkness that Hongseok couldn’t see through was very very bad indeed.

“So, you think this person’s aura is what has been messing with us today?”

“Yeah, their presence has seeped into the towns energies and it seems that all the humans down there are under the influence too.”

There was silence then, no one really knew how to respond to this news. The town they had established themselves in had been pretty calm for the past three-quarters of a century since Hyunggu turned and joined their coven. Sure there were a few other supernatural beings hanging around and the occasional traveller passed through, but there was never any malicious intent in their visits. Hwitaek took in the tense feeling around them all and as leader took action.

“As much as I hate to say it, we can’t exactly do anything right now. Whatever this creature is, it probably feeds on the nights so we are better off resting up and coming up with a plan to deal with it tomorrow, in the daylight.”

Some of the coven members groaned, especially Shinwon and Changgu. They all had varying sensitivities to the sun’s rays and it was never fun going out in the day time. It meant oversized hoodies and smelly skin creams to protect them from the rashes and power draining effects the UV light had on them. Contrary to popular mortal belief, they didn’t sparkle nor did they burst into flames with sun exposure, but it still wasn’t pleasant.

Changgu muttered something about checking his stock of sun cream before turning and heading out of the room. Hyunggu wanted to follow and comfort him but he knew that right now, strategy was more important. And so, the other eight retired to the common space to discuss what they were going to do to deal with this unexpected and unsettling newcomer.

The night passed and soon the sun began to rise above the horizon. And with it, their plan finally took shape. As the leader and most powerful member of the cover, Hwitaek was obviously going to be part of the three-member team sent into the town to scout out the source of the dark energy first. Yuto and Yanan would be the other two joining him. Yuto because he was the strongest and fastest thanks to his vampiric abilities, and Yanan so they could keep in contact with the others back at the house. After the first team had scouted out the situation, Hongseok and Changgu would be joining them followed by Jinho, Hyunggu and Shinwon. 

Hyojong wanted to go as the official curse breaker in the group, but his powers were most likely to be negatively impacted by being close to the dark aura and so he needed to stay behind. They would all be linked the entire time through Yanan, but as a backup plan each group had a mobile phone between them. And so with everything decided, they all took a small vial of Changgu’s sleeping draught and went to their rooms to get well needed rest.

The whole house reeked of nervous energy when all the members were finally up. Yanan almost couldn’t wait to get outside, except for the fact they were going to confront a terrifying dark force that was strong enough to mess with all of their powers from all the way down in the town. After Hwitaek reassured himself that everyone knew the plan and had their backups in place, the three of them left and made their way to confront an unknown.

Well aware that Yanan could pick up on even the slightest change in his aura, Hwitaek tried his best to keep all his emotions hidden. But it was extremely difficult when he was terrified of what they were about to do. He had known Hongseok for several centuries at this stage, and together they had brushed hands with a few evil creatures, so the prospect of facing the darkest aura he had ever seen wasn’t exactly giving him much confidence. Nevertheless, he put on his strongest leader front and marched towards the town centre with his head held high.

Yuto trailed behind the other two, feeling more than a little apprehensive at what was about to happen. He wasn’t the youngest vampire in their coven, but he often felt like he had the least control over his abilities, especially when it mattered most. If it actually came to it, he doubted his strength and speed would hold up against real dark magic. But he could feel the reassuring presence of the other members through the mental link, and knowing that they would be able to help him in whatever situation he had to face.

After what seemed like a long walk in the rising autumn sun, the trio reached the town square and immediately they could all feel the impact the dark aura was having on the mortal people in the area. There was a cloud of despair hanging over everything and Yanan felt it pressing against the protective barrier Hyunggu had set up around their mental link. It was going to be tougher than he had anticipated to keep their connection safe. 

Hwitaek led them through the side streets of the residential side of town, following Hongseok’s vague directions as best as they could. Eventually, they met a wall of energy that was so strong it felt tangible in the air. The mortals were avoiding the house on the end of the street without even realising it, the darkness pushing even those with no connection to the supernatural to stay away. It took all their tenacity to physically walk further into the dark energy and try find the source.

His legs began to feel like lead as they walked closer and closer to the otherwise unsuspecting house. There was nothing that made it look like a dark force was residing there, if you ignored the aura swirling around the outside. But Yuto trusted his instincts and those of his other eight coven members, and this house was very bad news. 

When the three of them were finally standing as close as they could get to the house, Hwitaek grabbed their hands and passed some of his strength to them. Yanan wanted to refuse, knowing that their leader would need every drop, but he insisted. The plan was for them to approach the house, knock on the door and peacefully confront the creature inside first of all. Hopefully with the weight of a nine member coven behind them they might be able to convince whatever was the source of the darkness to leave town on their own terms. If that didn’t work, they had three backups in place to deal with it. And so, hand in hand they took the last excruciating steps towards the front door and they prepared to begin their plan.

Watching the blurry images through Hongseok’s scrying bowl and filling in the blanks with Yanan’s telepath link gave a strange sort of disconnected feeling to the situation, but Jinho knew just how serious this was. He had scanned through some of his tomes from his early vampire days as a warrior in the hopes that there might be something that would be useful against such a dark and probably ancient black magic. All he could gather was that a respectful approach was the best way to start off. Now all they could do was hope.

After knocking on the door three times, they stood back a respectful and safe distance and waited. Minutes passed and there didn’t seem to be any movement from inside the house. If the source of the power had been out in the town they should have sensed it, so instead Hwitaek hesitated on what to do next. Knocking again might come across as rude, which was the last thing they wanted. But the longer the three of them stood here in the blanket of dark power the weaker and more vulnerable they were. So as the leader, he made the decision to send the other two to stand beyond the barrier and he would approach the door again. They both refused, and before he could convince them, the door slowly creaked open.

_ “They don’t look like what I thought pure darkness would represent.” _

_ “Hyunggu, surely you’ve learned by now that outer appearances mean nothing.” _

Gritting his teeth, Yanan reminded their youngest member that the link was supposed to be used for conveying important information regarding this situation, which he received a pout in response to. But no one could argue with his observation. The person who answered the door appeared to be rather young, perhaps in their early twenties at most, but they were taller than even he was. The dark aura didn’t get any stronger after their appearance, but it was leaking through the open doorway like a plague. 

_ “Well, what do you think Hwitaek?” _

_ “We can’t let their looks throw us off guard, we proceed with the original plan.” _

As the leader, Hwitaek was supposed to take the role of addressing the source of the dark aura, but something about the situation didn’t feel right to Yuto. He felt a strange connection to this creature, but it wasn’t magical in any way. So despite the trepidation caused by the energy surrounding them he interrupted Hwitaek before he could make a move.

_ “He doesn’t have any powers. There’s something else here.” _

The guy in the door was all in black with ripped skinny jeans and an oversized hoodie. And he was starting to look confused by the presence of the three vampires on his doorstep. Yanan was puzzled for a moment but after tapping in to Yuto’s emotions, he understood what the younger vampire meant. There was no supernatural aura coming from the person in the doorway, instead the darkness was oozing out from inside the house, completely bypassing what was in its way.

_ “Maybe you guys should say something before he freaks out and shuts the door?” _

Leave it to Shinwon to make the cynical but obvious comment. Hyojong smacked his arm gently but they all agreed with him, if this person really was just human then they needed to figure out what the actual source of the evil was. So it was left to Yuto to make the first move, since he was the one who had sensed it before the rest of them.

“Um, hello.”

Yuto cursed himself internally for sounding so dumb, which was then met by eight reassurances that he was doing great. The problems of being connected to your coven members telepathically he supposed. No matter, the person standing in the doorway had obviously heard him and looked to be debating on his response.

“Hi. Who are you guys?”

His voice was deeper than any of the others in the coven, and even distorted slightly by the telepathic link Hyunggu still felt an odd pull towards it. It felt like - home. He made sure to keep that thought buried far away from the link to the others for the moment, not wanting to influence Hwitaek or Yanan’s decision making in the field. Yuto he wasn’t as worried about, since it seemed that he felt something similar.

“We come from one of the houses on the hill to the north, and we heard there was a new resident in town. Just thought we would stop by and introduce ourselves.”

They were Hongseok’s words but in Yuto’s mouth, which was strange but the best way they could work it. The psychic was always the best at being tactical with what he said, although Jinho or Hwitaek would probably have done an equally good job. As it was, Hwitaek was focused on keeping the darkness at bay around them and Jinho was leafing through one of his books searching for anything that might explain what was going on.

“Oh, that’s nice of you guys. I’m Wooseok, I just moved in yesterday evening.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Wooseok. What brings you to our quiet little town?”

“Just - needed a change from the city I suppose. I’m sorry, but I never caught any of your names.”

It was dangerous, so very dangerous to give out your real name to an unknown magical entity. Especially when it was as dark and evil as this. But they couldn’t not give an answer in response, and so as leader, Hwitaek stepped up.

“My name is Hui. There’s actually a big group of us who live together so I don’t want to burden you with all their names. We would very much like to invite you to lunch with us sometime though.”

“Oh, that’s - really nice of you. Thanks Hui. It would be great to get to know some of the people living here.”

A warm and genuine smile crossed Wooseok’s face and the darkness seemed to recede for a moment. Hyojong was taken aback at how sudden the change was, it was almost as if Wooseok possessed a natural repellant for the evil aura around him. So then why had it followed him here, and why was it pouring out of his house like a dank cloud that was intent on suffocating the town?

“Well, I’m sure since you’ve just moved in you have lots to do so we won’t keep you for long. How does tomorrow afternoon sound for lunch? We can meet at the café on the mainstreet if you’d like.”

Yuto was speaking once again, only this time it was Changgu putting the words in his mouth. But all of them felt the intimate twist coming from Yuto’s heart when Wooseok smiled directly at him as he agreed to the plan, calling it a date. Hui decided to close off the conversation as quick as he could without seeming rude. It was very important that they escaped the darkness that was starting to dangerously wear down their protective barriers before it was too late.

Wooseok didn’t seem phased by their speedy exit, and just waved them goodbye while promisng to see them tomorrow. They three of them smiled back, and through the telepathy link they could feel Hyunggu especially smiling too. 

It wasn’t until they were well past the town hall that the aura finally stopped clinging to their skin and they felt like they could breathe a little easier. It was still getting difficult to keep the link open though, and so Yanan let everyone know he would have to close it.

_ “Changgu and Hyojong, can you guys set up some sort of detox area outside the house for the three of us to cleanse all this darkness from ourselves? We’ll be back in half an hour. If something happens, use the cellphones, ok?” _

After receiving an affirmative from the six back in the house, Yanan closed the connection and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the energy that had been dedicated to it flow back to his muscles. He knew it had been draining on him, but didn’t realise just how much. They walked back to the house in mostly silence, not wanting to speak about what just happened without everyone there to pitch in.

Even though it hadn’t gone quite the way they wanted it to, Hui was happy that no one had gotten hurt. The next step to discovering what was behind the dark aura that had invaded their town was in place, all they needed to do was follow through and find the truth. Even without the link, he knew that everyone was already hoping that Wooseok wasn’t really involved. 

  
  
  
  
  



	3. The Nine Lives of Yanan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yanan was cursed and his soul was split into nine parts, scattered through time. He was doomed never to live a full life until he could find all nine pieces and bring them together.
> 
> 506 words

It was not his fault, he was but a baby. But the greed of his parents was traded for his innocence. And so Yanan was cursed, cursed to live a life unfulfilled. His soul would never rest until he could bring all the nine missing pieces together. Until that time, he would have to be reborn over and over again, never truly reaching life’s purpose, never finding satisfaction in love. The innocent baby was sacrificed, his zeroth life ending before it had truly begun. Thus the cycle of rebirth began and Yanan had to find the missing pieces of his soul before he could truly live.

In his first true life, Yanan was an emperor, loved by all his people. He found a part of his soul in his advisor Yang Hongseok. He was stabbed on the day of his wedding. 

In his second life, Yanan was born to a family of eleven children. He found the next part of his soul in the village blacksmith Ko Shinwon. A famine struck them all, and he died so his family would have more to eat. 

In his third life, Yanan barely lived for two years. He died before he got to meet the third part of his soul; Kim Hyojong. 

In his fourth life, Yanan was a fisherman. His boat capsised in a storm and was rescued by pirate captain Adachi Yuto, another part of his soul. They both died in another storm that struck far too soon. 

In his fifth life, Yanan was adopted by a wealthy family. His tutor Jo Jinho held the next part of his soul. The family house burned down in a raging fire, with him trapped inside. 

In his sixth life, Yanan owned a music store. Lee Hwitaek tuned the pianos for him in exchange for hearing his voice. He realised the man held the sixth part of his soul when he took a bullet for him during a robbery. 

In his seventh life, Yanan was very sick. The only home he ever knew was his hospital room, and the only sunshine he saw was Kang Hyunggu from across the hall. His time with this part of his soul was short, taken away from him when his lungs finally gave up. 

In his eight life, Yanan studied to become a doctor. He dedicated his life to helping others and trying to avoid blushing around the receptionist Yeo Changgu. A drug addict stabbed him in the accident and emergency room on his birthday, and the last thing he saw was the worried face of the eighth part of his soul. 

This is his ninth and final life, and Yanan wakes up on his 21st birthday with the memories of all his last lives. Eight faces flash through his mind and his heart feels like it is going to break. He has to find the final piece of his soul, and reunite it with the others he had found through the ages. It was his only chance to finally live a full life. 


End file.
